in behalf of our Earth, and of man. We are told that they celebrated
the creation of this world "with songs of praise and shouts of joy."
At the time of the birth of the Saviour, an angel from God appeared to
the shepherds, who were watching their flocks by night, and announced
the "glad tidings of great joy, and immediately there appeared with
the angel, a multitude of the heavenly hosts" sounding loud the anthem
of praise, "Glory to God in the highest, peace on Earth and good-will
to men." How strange this incident! The tongues of men were silent in
this the hour of dawn of their redemption, and the angels alone
heralded the event, and sang the anthem of praise. An angel
subsequently warned Joseph to seek a place of safety for the "Infant
of days," as "Herod, the King, would seek to destroy the young child's
life."
During the Saviour's sojourn on Earth, how oft did angels appear and
minister unto Him; even "strengthening Him," when His human nature
staggered under the load of the sins of a guilty world. And
when--seemingly--the "star of Bethlehem" had set, and the hope of the
world seemed lost; when the promised Messiah was entombed; when dismay
seized upon, and thick darkness shrouded the minds of all who had
followed the Saviour; when even the Marys who loved Him, repaired at
early dawn to shed their tears at His sepulchre: Behold! "_The angel
of the Lord was there_;" had "rolled away the stone and sat upon it."
He did not need to inquire their errand, but said unto them: "I know
it is Jesus whom ye seek, he is not here, for He is risen." Oh, see
what interest the angels have ever manifested in our behalf! "_Are
they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister unto those
who shall be the heirs of salvation?_"
THE VAST NUMBER OF THE ANGELS.
"_An innumerable company of angels._" Heb. xii. 22.
Of the number of the angels we can form no proper conception. That
their numbers are very great, we have evidence through Divine
revelations. We are told that when the Law was given from Mount Sinai,
there was in attendance upon the great Author of all "thousands of
angels." Daniel, speaking of their attendance upon the "Ancient of
Days" says, "thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand
times ten thousand stood before him." When the star appeared in the
"east," and led the wise men to Bethlehem where lay the promised hope
of a perishing world, there appeared a multitude of the heavenly
hosts, singing with sweet melody the anthem of redemption, and praises
to God in the highest. When Peter unsheathed his sword to smite the
servant of the High Priest who came to arrest his Master, the Saviour
restrained him and said: "_Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my
Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of
angels._" While St. Paul speaks of an "innumerable company of angels
in the heavenly Jerusalem."
AMAZING STRENGTH OF ANGELS.
"_Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his
commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word._"--Ps. ciii. 20.
Of the amazing strength of angels, we can form no adequate conception.
"God is a Spirit," and by His Spirit hath created all things. We have
seen that His angels are spirits, and that these spirits are
_ethereal_ in their nature, so far as finite mind can comprehend. And
yet their strength is wonderful to contemplate. St. John represents
them as holding the four winds of heaven, and controlling the elements
with a supernatural power. Commissioned by Jehovah for the purpose, an
angel destroyed seventy thousand people of the tribes of Judah and
Israel in three days. And again, an angel destroyed, in one night, one
hundred and eighty-five thousand of a mighty army. It would seem that
by permission, or at command, they are capable of exercising a power
almost omnipotent. In the last days, great power shall be given them.
They shall pour out the vials of Jehovah's wrath, smite earth and
seas, cause the stars to fall, and even _chain the great dragon and
cast him into the bottomless pit_.
RAPIDITY OF MOVEMENT OF THE ANGELS.
We will now consider another feature of the capacity of the angels,
one that is fraught with deepest interest to the human mind, as it
will give us some light of probabilities attending our future, when
our spirits shall be released from our mortal bodies. This is the
celerity, velocity, or rapidity of their movements.
These celestial creatures seem to possess the power of transporting
themselves with a celerity incomprehensible to finite mind. That it is
equal, even if not more rapid than _electricity_, we cannot doubt. We
incline to the opinion, however, that the velocity of their movement
is, at pleasure, the same as that of the flight of _electricity_; and
so also with our spirits, after leaving the body. No one can fully
comprehend the _nature_ of electricity. We know that it exists, and to
some extent we can control and use it as an agency for useful
purposes; yet it is an existing element in nature, even as fire is. We
may concentrate and use it, and we may profess to understand the
combination of agencies which produce it. Yet all resolves itself back
again into the simple fact that it is an _element existing in nature_,
and its source is that of all else--the GREAT FIRST CAUSE OF ALL
THINGS.
Electricity is of more rapid flight than any other element or agency
we can--even partially--comprehend in nature. If we had a wire laid
around this Earth, it is estimated that a current of _electricity_
would belt the globe in about the _tenth part_ of a second of time, or
travel at nearly the speed of _three hundred thousand miles_ a second,
and would reach the Sun--_ninety-five millions of miles distant_--in a
fraction over _five minutes of time_. The discovery and application of
electricity is the most wonderful phenomenon that has ever been
grasped by the human intellect, and we contend it is one of Jehovah's
_invisible_ agencies in nature, which He has permitted man to
comprehend in part, and thus to prepare the mind to comprehend more
fully the infinity of His power, and the nature of our relation to
Him. Hitherto, even the mind of faith has stood bewildered in regard
to the transit of the soul, after death, to the place of its future
habitation. Astronomers, by the aid of that wonderful gift of God to
man--the telescope--have penetrated the borders of the far-distant
sidereal regions; have caught rays of light which, it is now rendered
probable, left their native nebulæ, or suns, more than _five hundred
thousand years_ ago, and have travelled at the rate of 192,000 miles a
second ever since, and are now successively beaming upon the assisted
eye. Now, it would require more than _three hundred thousand years_
for a current of electricity to travel thence, even at the rate of
300,000 miles each second of time. And yet, although far distant
regions have been penetrated and partially surveyed, still, nowhere
within the trackless and boundless domain of illimitable space have
Astronomers descried an object which they could denominate "Heaven."
We say, considering all these circumstances, and that it would require
three hundred thousand years, travelling with the rapidity of three
hundred thousand miles a second, to reach the extent of space surveyed
by the eye through the telescope, and yet the supposition that heaven
was still _far out beyond_; the mind of faith has ever been bewildered
as to the locality of the place, and of the time, or period of
eternity required to reach it. And yet it was right and proper that
Christians should hold firm to faith in God; that He _had_ provided a
place of happiness for his people, and also provided the necessary
agencies for transporting them thither. But now, when we consider that
every blessing vouchsafed to man is derived from heaven, or the
Sun--which is God's agency--when we have contemplated the nature of
God's manifestations in the bestowment of his blessings, and
visitations of his judgments; when we see how soon, at His bidding,
His messengers can descend from heaven to earth to execute His
commands, and the daily intimate relations in ancient times between
His angels residing in heaven, and His prophets and people on earth;
how instantaneously they were present when emergency demanded--for
when "Daniel bowed, and his prayer went up to heaven, the angel
Gabriel came with the answer from God while he was still on his knees,
and yet speaking,"--and accepting the hypothesis we have laid, that
our heaven is the vast globe descried by Astronomers within that
encircling photosphere of ethereal fire, which is denominated the
"Sun," our veiled faith of the past takes a sudden bound and lights
upon--an almost _fully revealed reality_; we can now partially
comprehend the mode, and short space of time required for the transit
of our immortal spirits to that heavenly world. It is reasonable to
suppose that spirit can pass with the velocity of electricity, and
travelling thus, we have seen that to reach that world within the Sun,
will require but about _five minutes_. Well hath the apostle said, "to
be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord."
There are fixed laws, and a certain _reality_, in all things
pertaining unto Jehovah and His vast creations throughout His own
Universe, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that he has designed
that we should comprehend His laws relating to us, and thereby
understand His own plain revelations. We therefore believe that
reason, founded upon revelations, sustains our hypothesis, as to the
location of heaven--as also of hell--and that the Spirit of God is--in
some of its offices--as _fire_. And we cannot doubt but that,
henceforth, these views will be sustained by the intelligence of the
world; and that still more of seeming mystery will be comprehended,
and new light opened to the mind upon the subject, while all will tend
to the glory of God, and the salvation of the human family.
_CERTAINTY OF A RESURRECTION._
St. Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, says: "_If in this life only we
have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable._"
No wonder that he came to such conclusion, when he knew that kings,
rulers, and the populace were overwhelmingly against the few disciples
and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that persecutions, bonds,
imprisonment, and even violent death were in store for many of them.
But hear him again:
"Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection
from the dead. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is
death.
"Now I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God. Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and
we shall be changed. For this corruption must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Death
shall be swallowed up in victory. Thanks be to God, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
That there will be a resurrection of our spiritual bodies, is plainly
taught in the Old and in the New Testament scriptures. We have already
shown this conclusively in our opening chapter on "The Immortality of
the Soul, and a future State of Existence." But had doubts remained in
the minds of any, we think St. Paul--as quoted above--removes them,
and sets the matter at rest.
St. John, the revelator, tells us that while in the spirit, the scene
of the judgment was brought before his vision. He says:
"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and
the books were opened, and the dead were judged out of those
things which were written in the books, according to their
works."
Now we understand that this general judgment will be at the close of
the time allotted to this world. Whether that period is far remote or
near at hand, no one knoweth save God himself; "no, not even the
angels of heaven." But as to that time, it matters not, so far as
salvation and a condition of happiness to the righteous is concerned,
nor to the wicked, as regards future punishment. Revelations and the
Word of God establish the fact that as soon as the soul, or spirit
leaves the body, it enters upon its future and final condition,
whether of happiness or misery, "Lazarus died, and was carried by the
angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried, and
in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment." The Saviour, while
suspended upon the cross, manifested His pardoning and saving power to
the thief, forgave his sins, accepted him, and said: "To-day shalt
thou be with me in Paradise."
Under the circumstances--the extreme sufferings and agonies the
Saviour was enduring at the time--some have cavilled at this
exhibition of grace and pardoning mercy to the dying thief. Let it be
remembered, His mission was to save sinners. And that it is written,
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."
Here is a plain exhibition of the possibility, and plan of salvation
to _all_. This thief had sinned; and had also violated the laws of his
country, and in rebuking his fellow culprit in crime--who had reviled
the Saviour--he acknowledged his own guilt by saying, "this man
suffereth innocently; yet we are guilty, and justly deserve our
punishment." Indeed, he seemed to be the _first_ to comprehend
Christ's kingdom, and the plan of salvation through faith in Him. By
faith, he grasped the hope, then springing from the Cross whereon the
Saviour hung, and penitently cried unto the Redeemer of the world,
"Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom." See this flash
of light in the midst of spiritual darkness, dismay, and surrounding
gloom--even the light of immortality and eternal life! All the
followers had forsaken the dying Redeemer, and those who had been his
acknowledged disciples were fleeing in dismay, and even Peter denied
his Lord and Master with an oath. The hope of the world's deliverance;
through the Messiah, seemed lost. Yet here was one--even a poor dying
thief--whose faith penetrated the veil, and _he_ saw that Christ's
kingdom was not of this world. He believed on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the promise made to all who believe in Him; with a heart unto
righteousness, was vouchsafed to him. We look upon this as the
strongest exhibition of faith the world had ever yet known. And we
think the evidence conclusive, that as soon as the soul leaves the
body--this tenement of clay--it enters at once upon its future
condition of happiness, or of misery.
Of the certainty of the final resurrection of our bodies--changed and
transformed into spiritual bodies--and of a general judgment, the
Scripture revelations are plain and conclusive. May we not therefore,
for a few moments, contemplate the eventful, and, to some, the
pleasant, yet to others the startling scene?
That the bodies of some who lived on this earth have already undergone
this great, and to us mysterious change of "corruption putting on
incorruption," and "mortal putting on immortality," we cannot doubt.
This seems manifest in the case of Elijah, and so also, as seems
evident, with Moses. And it will be remembered that these two appeared
in their heavenly vestments; bright and shining, and stood with the
Saviour when he was transfigured on the Mount. So also at the time of
the crucifixion of the Son of God. When, at the last moment of his
expiring agony he cried to his Father, with a loud voice, and gave up
the ghost; the earth did quake, and the rocks were rent, and the
graves were opened, "and many bodies of the Saints that slept arose."
And to make this--seeming mystery--more clear to those He had
commissioned to preach His everlasting gospel--the power of which
should be the resurrection from the dead--the Saviour himself, after
His body had risen from the grave, appeared unto them--His
disciples--and thus gave them a _visible manifestation_ of this
wondrous truth, and re-commissioned them to go forth into all the
world and proclaim _his own resurrection_, and that by repentance and
faith all might come to a _resurrection of life_.
_THE RESURRECTION._
Therefore, behold, the time cometh when "all that are in their graves,
shall hear His voice"--even the voice of God--and the angel shall
sound the trumpet, and its tones of melody and the voice of love will
move earth and seas, from centre to circumference, and awake into
immortal life the decayed bodies and mouldering dust of His sleeping
children. "For the dead in Christ shall rise first," and "blessed are
they who have part in the first resurrection, for on such the second
death hath no power." "They shall have a right to the tree of life."
See the myriads of sepulchres and graves opening, and saints rising in
the light of the "glory of God," and millions of the sheeted dead--who
have slept beneath the bosom of "deep blue seas;" in the depths of
oceans, or were swept away by floods and flowing rivers--rising and
riding in triumph upon the swelling, bright-crested waves which
sparkle in the resplendent glory-light of heaven.
"See these all arrayed in white,
Brighter than the noon-day sun."
These come forth at their Creator's call, and now at His bidding, the
happy reunion of the long separated partners--souls and bodies--takes
place, and the vast realm resounds with shouts of triumph and songs of
praise. While the "_Morning Stars_" who sang the _pean_ of Creation,
and the angelic host--who celebrated in the hill-country of Judea, the
advent of the Saviour on earth to ransom fallen man--join in melody
and again swell the loud anthem, "GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!" Then
shall be repeated the saying which was written, "O death, where is thy
sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" "Thanks be to God who giveth us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." And, ascending again with
their resurrected glorified bodies, the voice of the archangel
Gabriel--who sounded their resurrection trumpet--will be heard from
the portal of heaven, throughout the vast domain. BEHOLD THEY COME!
We would fain close this chapter with these delightful reflections,
and leave the minds of all free from fearful apprehensions, and happy
in the contemplation of a future resurrection to the enjoyment of a
blissful immortality and eternal life. But the Laws of God are stern
and inflexible in their requirements; His judgments sure; His
revelations plain, and all are in duty bound to contemplate them.
We have told you that at His _call_ "the righteous shall come forth
to a resurrection of life." And now we have to record the fact
that--at His _command_--"the wicked shall come forth to a resurrection
of damnation." To contemplate or depict the scene startles the mind,
and baffles and beggars the human intellect.
We fancy a death-like silence prevails throughout the earth and seas,
and the vast domain of Heaven. Songs of triumph, and shouts of joy, of
both saints and angels, have ceased for one hour of eternity. The
Judge ascends His throne, from which to issue His command. The four
and twenty Elders remove their glittering crowns of gold, and bow
before Him. Moses and Elijah, and all the prophets, apostles, and
martyrs are there. There the redeemed of the Lord--whom no man can
number--are assembled with legions of angels. All bow before the Lord,
and "there is silence in Heaven." Hark! the command was given! The
voice of the final judgment-trumpet; in thunder tones, waxes louder
and louder! and seems to shake heaven itself, with its surrounding
universe of worlds. It is the trumpet-voice of the "WRATH OF GOD"
summoning the wicked of a sin-cursed world, to arise and come to
judgment.
See! the Earth is convulsed from the centre to its circumference, and
is "rocking to and fro, as a drunken man." Graves are opening on every
hand, and from all the Earth, from deep dark seas and oceans' depths,
behold the pale, _ghastly_ multitudes coming forth, filled with terror
and dismay. Mountains are sinking, and valleys rising, like surgings
of contending billows; and their rocky foundations, though ten
thousand feet deep, are breaking into fragments! A tempest of God's
fiery indignation is smiting the Earth! Hear the muttering thunders of
the judgment storm! see the dread lightnings flashing amidst the
surrounding gloom! The internal magazine-fires of the Earth are
belching forth their molten lava, which is lifting the deep
foundations of seas and oceans into mountain-peaks, and rolling _fiery
billows_. See! behold! the Universal conflagration of the world! seas,
oceans, and all the Earth, one vast sheet of _flame_. While the angel
(which John saw) "_standing in the Sun_" calls in thunder tones, ARISE
YE DEAD AND COME TO JUDGMENT! And then swears by Him, that liveth
forever and ever, "TIME SHALL BE NO LONGER."
The unnumbered millions of resurrected bodies of the wicked would fain
refuse a reunion with their long lost souls, and fall back and be
consumed or annihilated by the raging elements. But now, for the
wicked there is no place of safety. They refused the refuge once
freely offered them in the "cleft side of the Redeemer," and trifled
away their days of grace, and now the stern reality of the threatened
judgment is upon them. Their souls, perhaps, have already suffered
for thousands of years in fiery torments, and now death and hell give
up their dead to a reunion, that all may receive their final sentence
from the "Judge of quick and dead" to depart and "dwell in everlasting
burnings."
In their direful extremity they would fain "flee from the presence of
God." Hear them calling upon the fiery whirlwind-tempest of rocks, and
moving mountains "to fall on them, and hide them from the face of Him
that sitteth on the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb," and
crying aloud, "BEHOLD! THE GREAT DAY OF HIS WRATH HAS COME; WHO SHALL
BE ABLE TO STAND?" Yet these fragments of a convulsed and dismembered
universe are restrained from performing such office of mercy, and by
the Word--which created them--are hurled back into the raging chaotic
storm, to "melt with fervent heat" and mingle with the elements in the
convulsive throes of a _wrecked world_, which is being consumed by the
"SPIRIT-FIRES" OF JEHOVAH'S WRATH.
"And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death
and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and I saw
the dead small and great stand before God, and they were
judged according to their works. And death and hell were
cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was
cast into the lake of fire; and the same shall drink of the
wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without
mixture into the cup of His indignation. And I saw an angel
standing in the Sun. And the fourth angel poured out his
vial upon the Sun, and power was given unto him to scorch
men with fire; and men were scorched with great heat. And
they shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the
presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the
Lamb, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever
and ever."
_A SERIOUS CONTEMPLATION._
The contemplation of the final judgment, and the sentence to be passed
upon the wicked, is truly a solemn one, and should startle every mind,
But oh, how few, comparatively, seem to stop and reflect upon this
momentous subject? And yet _all_ are rapidly hastening on to their
final doom. Few are aware of the vast numbers that are passing from
time into eternity--even each year, each month, each day each hour, or
each minute.
We will here state the numbers, as well ascertained, or approximated,
by the ablest staticians of the world. They tell us there is one death
for every second of time, 60 every minute; 3,600 every hour; 84,400
every day; 2,595,000 every month; 31,140,000 every year, and a number
equal to the entire population of the globe, _viz._: _one thousand
millions_ every thirty years. And we are forced to the conclusion,
that by far the larger portion of adults pass away without any
conscious knowledge of the plan of salvation, or a tenable hope of
heaven.
Reader, stop and reflect. No matter what your age, your condition of
health, or in life, you, too, must soon know the realities of your
future; your eternal state of existence.
We have heard the remark from the ungodly, that if they failed to
reach heaven, they would, at least, "be with a large crowd." Yes, we
have no doubt of it. For we read of "legions of devils," and there
will also be legions from _earth_ to be tormented by them. Now we
appeal to the reason of every intelligent mind, can you expect to
enjoy happiness in your eternal existence, amid devouring flames?